rnEpson’s latest multifunctional printer makes a great photo printer, scanner and copier.
It is really getting to the point that you would have to have particularly strong reasons not to want to buy a multi-function device rather than an individual printer and scanner. The RX650 reinforces this with one unit that combines all but one of what I now see as the core functions. The missing function is a real fax capability. For some reason Epson always leave this out and whilst a computer-based faxing solution works for many people, personally I prefer faxing to be manual so that I can send and receive faxes even if my computers are turned off. But apart from the missing fax, this device is really loaded. It also does CD burning, a must in my view.
As a printer it is a six-color photo printer with the high resolution of Epson’s current printers. As such you get excellent photo printing capability that is only exceeded by some of the latest photo printers with more than six colors. It is fairly fast, taking 1 minute, 47 seconds to print an A4 photo on Epson’s new Ultra Glossy Photo Paper (see review) when set for speed and 4 minutes, 15 seconds when set for quality. The improvement in quality is small but noticeable, but only when up close. So for all normal purposes you can take the speed route, because at normal viewing distances you can’t pick the difference. The RX650 uses dye inks, so you are not looking at display life much beyond 20 years. This is the one real area that lets this device down as a serious do-it-all device for the photographer.
Scanning is fast with good and accurate color and great resolution. The scanner is quite capable of doing most scanning people would need, except of course for dedicated film scanning where the highest resolution and quality is required. The thing is a scanner of this quality, five years ago, would have been a dedicated photo scanner. Not anymore. It will meet most people’s needs.
Copying uses the functions of scanning and printing and works well, as you would expect.
This is a great device. Fast, quiet and with individual ink cartridges, probably reasonably economical. Its negatives are the use of dye inks, and thus a limited display life, and no real fax. Apart from this it is definitely worth a look when it is available in your country.
Specifications
Printer
PRINTER TYPE
PRODUCT NAME STYLUS PHOTO RX650
PRODUCT CODE C11C608031
PRINTING METHOD On-demand Inkjet (piezoelectric)
NOZZLE CONFIGURATION 90 nozzles (Black)
5 x 90 nozzles (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light Cyan, Light Magenta)
PRINT SPEED
BLACK TEXT (MEMO) A4 Approx. 21 PPM (Economy) *1
COLOUR TEXT (MEMO) A4 Approx. 21 PPM (Economy) *2
PHOTO 4″ x 6″ 40 sec
RESOLUTION
5760 x 1440 Optimised dpi using Resolution Performance Management (RPM) Technology
PAPER HANDLING Dual Paper Tray
PAPER FEED METHOD Friction feed with Paper Feeder
PAPER HOLD CAPACITY 80 A4 (90 gsm)
PAPER SIZES A4, Letter, A5, A6, B5, Legal
Envelopes: (No. 10, DL, C6, 123 x 220mm), Executive, Half letter.
PAPER THICKNESS 0.08mm ~ 0.11mm (Paper)
0.16mm ~ 0.52mm (Envelopes)
Scanner
SCANNER TYPE Flatbed colour image scanner
PHOTOELECTRIC DEVICE 6 line colour CCD with on-chip microlens
DOCUMENT SIZE 216mm x 297mm
PIXEL DEPTH
COLOUR 48-bit internal
48-bit external
SCANNING RESOLUTION Main 3200 x SubScan 6400dpi with Micro Step Drive
OPTICAL DENSITY 3.1 Dmax
SCANNING SPEED
up to 4.5msec / Line, (mono) 600 dpi
up to 4.5msec / Line (colour) 600 dpi
Copy Function
COPY SPEED
Approx 21cpm – A4 black text (Economy) *1,
Approx 21cpm – A4 colour text document (Economy) *2
STANDALONE COPY FUNCTIONALITY
Independent Menu
Number of Copies 1 to 99
Reduce / Enlarge 25 to 400%
Fit-To-Page Function
Margin Modes; BorderFree, Standard
Copy Modes; Standard, Repeat Copy Function,
Repeat Copy (4/9/16), Repeat Poster (4/9/16),
Copy Photo with restoration, Mirror copy.
General
CONTROL PANEL 2.5″ Epson Photo Fine(TM) Colour LCD Screen
INTERFACES USB 2.0 hi-speed+ USB Direct port USB 1.1+
+ To use the USB port, your PC must conform to PC98 specifications, and have Windows® 98 preinstalled. Consult the documentation provided with your PC for further information about USB connectivity. Note also that printing errors may occur if non-standard cables or more than two hub connections are used.
WIRELESS PRINTING IrDA, Infrared Printing Standard
OPTIONS Bluetooth® adaptor C12C824142
MEMORY CARDS SUPPORTED
CompactFlash, SmartMedia*, Memory Stick*,
MagicGate Memory Stick*, Memory Stick Duo**,
Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick PRO Duo**,
MagicGate Memory Stick Duo**, Microdrive,
SD (Secure Digital) Card, MiniSD Card**,
MultiMedia Card, xD-Picture Card
* Maximum Capacity is 128MB Card
** with Adapter
OPERATING SYSTEMS
Windows® 98 / Me / 2000 / XP / XP 64-bit*, Mac® OS X 10.2.4 or later
* Drivers if available are downloadable from Tech Epson
COLOUR MATCHING
Epson Colour Management System included in Windows® and Mac® drivers:
Windows® ICM (Windows® 95/98/Me/2000/XP)
Apple® ColorSync 2.0 compatible
SRGB (Windows® 98/Me/2000/XP)
SOFTWARE (AVAILABLE ON CD-ROM ONLY)
Printer driver, Epson Scan, PIF Tool, PIF Designer, Creativity Suite (includes: Epson File Manager, Epson Scan Assistant, Epson Attach to Email, Epson Image Clip Palette, Epson Copy Utility, Epson Easy Photo Print, Epson Web-to-Page, Epson Print CD)
* Windows® / Mac® OSX 10.2.1 to 10.2.8 only. Limited functionality under Mac® OSX 10.3x
WARRANTY
12 months return to base Standard
Optional Additional 2 Year Warranty 3YWRX650
Epson Warranty
PRODUCT DIMENSIONS Open – 450mm(W) x 414(D) x 210(H)
WEIGHT 9.3kg
ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS
RATED VOLTAGE AC 220 ~ 240V
RATED FREQUENCY 50 ~ 60 Hz
POWER CONSUMPTION Approx. 22W (ISO10561 Letter Pattern)
INK CARTRIDGES
BLACK INK &
nbsp; COLOUR INK
Black (T0491) Cyan (T0492), Magenta (T0493), Yellow, (T0494), Light Cyan (T0495), Light Magenta (T0496)
*True BorderFree printing is available for the following media si
zes: 100 x 150mm, 4″ x 6″, 5″ x 7″ & A4. Media types recommended: Photo Paper, Matte Paper – Heavyweight.